THE AMERICAN BISON. 255 



in several places, and the Bison was couched beside 

 him, apparently waiting to renew the attack had he 

 shewn any signs of life. 



" The favourite Indian method of killing the 

 Bison is by riding up to the fattest of the herd on 

 horseback, and shooting it with an arrow. When a 

 large party of hunters are engaged in this way on 

 an extensive plain, the spectacle is very imposing, 

 and the young men have many opportunities of dis- 

 playing their skill and agility." * 



The pound, as it is termed, is used for taking se- 

 veral kinds of the larger wild animals, and, though 

 differently constructed, according to circumstances, 

 is always made upon the same principle of di iving 

 the animals within a toil or enclosure where they 

 cannot escape. That for taking the buffalo has been 

 described by both Captain Hall and Dr Richardson. 

 In North America, in the fur countries, " the Buffalo 

 pound was a fenced circular space of about a hun- 

 dred yards in diameter ; the entrance banked up with 

 snow, to a sufficient height to prevent the retreat of 

 the animals that may once have entered. For about 

 a mile on each side of the road leading to the pound, 

 stakes were driven into the ground at nearly equal 

 distances of about twenty yards. These were in- 

 tended to look like men, and to deter the animals 

 from attempting to break out on either side. With- 

 in fifty or sixty yards from the pound, branches of 

 trees were placed between these stakes, to skreen 

 Richardson, p. 232. 



